Mexico has agreed to delay an announced crackdown on quarantine weed seeds that has until now halted a number of canaryseed railcars at the U.S./Mexican border.
According to Kevin Hursh, a Saskatoon ag commentator and writer and executive director for the Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan, Mexico has agreed to a 60-day delay on its tightened restrictions.
Hursh, in a commentary Tuesday, quoted federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz speaking Monday to the Canadian Special Crops Association’s annual meeting in Saskatoon. Ritz said he had spoken to his Mexican counterpart to arrange the reprieve, Hursh wrote.
Read Also
Senft to step down as CEO of Seeds Canada
Barry Senft, the founding CEO of the five-year-old Seeds Canada organization is stepping down as of January 2026.
Thus, a number of railcars of canaryseed stopped at the border will be allowed into Mexico, Hursh wrote.
“It also provides until mid-August to work out a deal to satisfy Mexican concerns.”
Specifically, Mexico classifies wild buckwheat as a quarantined weed seed, and officials there are concerned about its spread and the costs of controlling it.
Some shipments of canaryseed, for which Mexico has been Canadian growers’ top customer, have “apparently had high levels,” Hursh wrote.
“While it’s easy to conclude that Mexico is just trying to get our canaryseed at a cheaper price, that doesn’t seem to be the case,” he wrote.
“Mexican buyers, some of whom are in attendance at the Saskatoon meeting, want our canaryseed just as much as we want to sell it to them.”
Rather, Hursh wrote, Mexico appears to realize zero tolerance for the presence of quarantine weed seeds is not practical — and that, in turn, “will hopefully make it possible for the two countries to reach a workable solution.”
